Change Marks the Seasons of Our Lives

The leaves are beginning to change color here in southern Ohio. I read a post this morning from a woman who doesn’t like autumn because it means winter is close behind. Some people don’t like any sort of change. Others appreciate the changing of seasons.

 

As many of my readers know, I spent a great deal of my youth in Florida. I have family and friends there. I always find it humorous when people I know in Florida shudder at the thought of living in Ohio. “No way would I want to live up there with all that snow!” they tell me. 

 

I live in southwestern Ohio. In the Ohio Valley. Our snowfall is minimal and our below freezing temps are few. In fact, I’ve known Tom to play golf in his short-sleeved shirts in January. His last round of golf…the one he played with my son-in-law and grandson was, in his words, the most fun he’d ever had golfing. That was on October 25, 2014. Late into Fall. He mowed my mom’s grass that afternoon. Yeah, Ohio isn’t all cold weather and snow; At least not in our region.

 

Of course now that I write that, I fear we’ll have a terrible blizzard and I’ll have to eat my words. Still, Tom and I moved with our two little girls to the Cincinnati area in the summer of 1978 after one of those once-in-a-lifetime (I hope) blizzards and I’ve never had to experience anything like that personally since.

 

My Ohio friends shake their heads and wonder how they would handle living in Florida. “Florida has no seasons!” they cry. They claim to love the changing of seasons. Until they retire, that is. Then again, old bones chill faster. And FYI, Florida does have seasons. They are defined a bit differently, but they are evident. 

 

As I took my morning walk, I began to wonder if how we deal with the changing of seasons is reflective of how we deal with change in general. Or not. Some people seem to embrace change while others, as I mentioned earlier, don’t like any sort of change at all. Some even fear change. 

 

In the Bible, in the Old Testament, there is a book called Ecclesiastes. Most people think Solomon wrote it. Maybe. The first couple of chapters read like a sleepless night. Chapter three, however, speaks to this notion of the seasons and changes in our lives. It starts by stating, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”

 

[Honestly, I think I first heard that chapter as a song by the Byrds. Turn, turn, turn. If you’re younger than me you may need to look that one up.] 

 

The point is, I embrace the changing seasons of my life. I’ve learned that while I don’t always like change (especially with technology) I don’t fear it. 

 

There is a time for everything and God has made everything beautiful in its time. 

 

So how do you handle change? I love to hear from my readers.